imgon
imgon HalfDork
1/29/20 12:56 p.m.

Has anyone found a good nozzle for their garden hose? I had an awesome brass mini fire hose style one for twenty years until I ran it over with my truck a few years ago. Since then I am lucky if they last a season or two before they start weeping/sticking/generally not working. I have tried cheap ones from Lowes Depot, expensive ones from the local Ace, simple unscrew styles to multi function dodads. What really works? We do have well water but the hose bib I use the most has treated water.

rustybugkiller
rustybugkiller HalfDork
1/29/20 1:01 p.m.

Griots has some. Check their site.

ShawnG
ShawnG UltimaDork
1/29/20 1:07 p.m.

We have a great one at work. It's brass, pistol style but the nozzle is the old-school "twist to adjust the pattern" type.

Works great, easy to set and shuts off fast.

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/29/20 1:10 p.m.

I have a metal, multi-function one made by Orbit that I got at Home Depot a few years back that I love. Looking at their website, the don't seem to offer the all-metal one that I have, but I think they still make some good ones.  Here's mine: 

 

EvanB
EvanB GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/29/20 1:16 p.m.

I have one of these, it has worked fine for the last 3 years. The company has rebuild kits (o-rings) if it starts leaking. 

https://www.amazon.com/Bon-Aire-Original-Ultimate-Aluminum-Nozzle/dp/B0001L0DFA?th=1

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/29/20 1:16 p.m.

I found them at Lowes for $15, or Amazon for $30.

imgon
imgon HalfDork
1/30/20 4:45 a.m.

In reply to pinchvalve :

Thanks, that looks like a decent deal for $15.

Datsun310Guy
Datsun310Guy UltimaDork
1/30/20 6:23 a.m.

I can get Dixon products but the nice ones are not always garden hose thread (GHT) and are pipe thread (NPT). 
 

https://www.dixonvalve.com/products/category/fire-nozzles-30720

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
1/30/20 7:05 a.m.

This guy from Northern Tool is awesome. Possibly the most durable nozzle I have ever used. It's not small though. Awesome hose nozzle link.

Curtis73
Curtis73 GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
1/30/20 11:55 a.m.

I have tried them all.  I keep coming back to this one.  Dirt simple, works great.  No dials to set what you want, just squeeze more or less to get the spray you want.

Gilmour Metal Pistol Nozzle with Threaded Tip

The ones with the big dials are ok for some, but the big dial and all the options means that each passage is tiny.  When you set it on "jet" you get a pretty pathetic jet of water.  Not good for hosing off your siding or blasting leaves off the porch.

Try to find one that is the same metal as your hose end.  Brass for brass, aluminum for aluminum, etc.  One winter when you put it away and forget to take it off means it can become a permanent hose end.

jharry3
jharry3 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
1/30/20 12:06 p.m.

One trick for more flow is change out the gate valve type hose bib faucets to full port ball valves. 

They make them for water hose faucets.

You get a lot more flow due to a larger cross section plus gate valves just don't flow as well as full port ball valves even with equal cross sectional area.

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 MegaDork
1/30/20 12:10 p.m.

Most of the fancy ones I've bought have failed in some superficial way, like the spring that clicks the mult-spray-pattern turret is made of steel and it rusts through in one season, leaving the turret always annoyingly between spray patterns.

The most durable one I own came with the first house I bought.  It looks like this and will live forever:

 

Downside is that it won't shut off completely, so I don't often use it.

mtn
mtn MegaDork
1/30/20 12:36 p.m.
1988RedT2
1988RedT2 MegaDork
1/30/20 1:49 p.m.
mtn said:

https://www.amazon.com/Dramm-12380-Heavy-Duty-Adjustable-Nozzle/dp/B001DGII5O?th=1

Sweet!  I would have figured nobody offered these any more.  Made in the USA, no less.  I may need to buy one, just on principle.

barefootskater
barefootskater SuperDork
1/30/20 4:22 p.m.
1988RedT2 said:

Most of the fancy ones I've bought have failed in some superficial way, like the spring that clicks the mult-spray-pattern turret is made of steel and it rusts through in one season, leaving the turret always annoyingly between spray patterns.

The most durable one I own came with the first house I bought.  It looks like this and will live forever:

 

Downside is that it won't shut off completely, so I don't often use it.

My mother's parents (who I am lucky to still have and luckier to live very close to) have this. They're always telling us to choose what we want when they go because with six children and 437 grandchildren it'll all be spoken for. The hose nozzle is mine. And I'm willing to fight for the cast waffle iron. 

imgon
imgon HalfDork
1/30/20 9:51 p.m.
1988RedT2 said:

Most of the fancy ones I've bought have failed in some superficial way, like the spring that clicks the mult-spray-pattern turret is made of steel and it rusts through in one season, leaving the turret always annoyingly between spray patterns.

The most durable one I own came with the first house I bought.  It looks like this and will live forever:

 

Downside is that it won't shut off completely, so I don't often use it.

That is the one I crushed with my truck, it was a sad day. But thanks to mtn I believe I have found a replacement.

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